friday i'm in love...(but also so tired of winter)....

It’s been a rough week
full of headaches
and being sick…
bad news and
broken toilets…
ice storm stress
and cancelled plans.

But its had some
little glimmers of goodness.
Like the pretty spring-inspiring tulips
my little brother brought me
as a Friday surprise. 🌷
How sweet is he?

Let’s get right to the list, shall we?
(before this Tylenol wears off….
yes, I am fighting another headache)

FRIDAY I AM LOVING:
🌷last weekend, I got out for a
stroll in the woods with a friend
for some much needed therapeutic
rambling and ranting
and the occasional “wait…but
like…where exactly are we? Here? There?”
and to my joy,
someone had created an Easter trail
(which didn’t stop us from getting slightly lost)
but made me so incredibly happy!
and then I stopped at Sunny’s Dairy Bar
(first stop of the season, but not the last!)
on the way home where I felt bad for
scaring some snowmobilers with my
exceptionally loud music…

🌷I know I mentioned this
before but I am absolutely
obsessed Tide and Tallow products…
I started with the body butters (mmmmm,
these smell soooo good)
then the face whip (I had vanilla, of course)
& facial oil (sweet orange)
but then had the chance to get a sweet orange
face whip (mine was almost gone)
and she surprised me with a blush…
and I am IN LOVE.
Like….seriously….so obsessed.
(and also she is incredibly sweet,
please go check her stuff out…
I can’t get enough. 😍)

🌷and after some panic about
a leak in my bathroom, I was
able to get it sorted out…if you know me,
you know that I panic when things go
wrong in the big orange house
BECAUSE IT JUST DRIVES HOME THE
FACT THAT I DON’T KNOW WHAT I AM DOING
and also
why am I
THE ONLY GROWN UP
IN THIS HOUSE.

So anyway, GB Island Contracting
fixed it all up for me and one more
crisis averted….on to the next! Sigh.
(But they were great & would definitely
use them again, just hopefully won’t need to…
water issues scare the bejeezus out of me.)

I guess that’s long enough for today…
but I can’t wait to tell you
about the books that I read so far in March!!!
🤭

whatcha readin'? {goal 48-book 4}

Well. I read this book.
I am not really sure what drew me to it.
Maybe it was on sale.
Maybe it was the promise of
RESTORING MY
YOUTHFUL CONTOURS.
But honestly, I think I just really liked
the polka dot person. Heh.

The main premise
is cut out wheat (um. iffy.)
and cut out sugar (ok, we all know that
is NOT going to happen…
I would be delusional to think
that I could or would achieve that).

But there were lots of other interesting
points as well and I did really get
a lot out of reading it.
Can I cut back on things? Yes.
Am I looking more closely at
the “ingredient” list? Yes.
Can I focus on my protein & whole foods? Yes.
Did I have jujubes for supper the other night
while reading the book?
Also yes.
I’m a creature of habit.
Or maybe just a creature.
I don’t know.

Regardless it was an interesting read
and kept my attention all the way through.
It is not the book’s fault
I have no will power. 🤭

Also I would like to try to make the
yogurt-but-not-really-yogurt he talks about
but am also a little afraid I might
create some strain of virus and accidentally
unleash it on the world. 🤷🏻‍♀️

sooooo 4💛💛💛💛’s out of 5 for this one!
(yellow hearts signify non-fiction in my spreadsheet,
if you must know)(and yes, I have a spreadsheet).

*also not really related but the photo made me
think of how I asked Drogo (chat gbt) about
painting my currently orange living room pink (heh)
and I won’t go into full detail of what he said
other than that he did call my current decor
“holiday fever dream”
which I am not sure was meant as a compliment
but I am choosing to take it that way.

NEXT UP:
(still fighting with) POEMS & PRAYERS - MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY
annnnnnnddddd (excited drum roll):
TRESS OF THE EMERALD SEA - BRANDON SANDERSON
(which I am super excited about
and I hope the drumroll would have signified that but…anyway.)
(also I am reading a virtual copy of this
but might have to splurge for the actual physical book…
it is illustrated!! and you know how that gets me…)

wow. this was long. heehee.
here is another cat-napping photo for staying so long.

not a friday but a love list anyway...with skates and strawberries 🍓

i had to work this
past friday…
i had wanted to do a
friday i’m in love
cause i had things that i loved
but i ran out of time.

so…here it is on a sunday instead.
a snowy, quiet sunday.

last friday,
my girl stopped by for a visit (which i love)
and also a sprinkle doughnut (which i also love!)
and then
my talented and super sweet bestie
brought me a spectacular surprise,
the SWEETEST red knit strawberry hat
that i have EVER seen.
THAT SHE MADE!!

i absolutely adore it.
and proceeded to wear it
the rest of the day
where we went skating
(no real photos but proof in the
doodle above),
then we went to Daisy-Mae’s used bookstore
and to auntea’s oddities

where i got big compliments
in both places about the sweet strawberry hat. 🍓

and also got new books and
beautiful set of oracle cards that i adore.

but first, can we just take a second
to ooooooh and ahhhhh
over the cover of this book?
AND IT’S ILLUSTRATED!
(there may have been a very
short lived tussle with said bestie
over this book but the rule is
she-who-found-it-may-buy-it
but-also-must-loan-it)
this is in sub-section 34, clause b, page 73
of the contract i signed with her when
we were 10. 🤭

and the oracle cards. sighhhhhh. 😍

do i know anything about oracle cards?
nope.
but they are just sooooo pretty and make me happy
and honestly, that’s really all I go by when
making life choices.

oh! and taking photos of the cats in their napping positions
has also been bringing me happiness.
And it’s March!! So close to spring now…yay!

whatcha readin'? {goal 48-books 1-3}

I am going to try to stay
on top of talking about books
that I have been reading…
and I realize I say this every year
and every year, I start out strong…
and then sunshine happens
and I lose sight of this goal. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Here we are in the middle of February
and I have only read 3 books so far.
January killed me a little,
I am not really sure why…
but to be fair, my first pick
was a long one and one that I wanted to
savor
and not devour.

1 - Fall on your Knees - Anne Marie MacDonald
💙💙💙💙💙 (re-read)
I love this book.
This one is a re-read for me (more than once)
but it’s been a long time since my last read of it,
so long that I had kind of forgotten a lot of it,
which was nice…it was like reading it all new again…
it’s poetic lyrical dark and moody…
a family saga set in Cape Breton.
I adore it.
And I was just as devastated reading it
this time as I was the first time I read it.

2 - Nine Perfect Strangers - Liane Moriarty
❤️❤️❤️❤️.5
This was my “read in the sauna” book…
and I was completely enthralled. It was intense.
It was so unexpected.
I had loved Big Little Lies by the same author
and am excited to see that this one is already a series also
so I plan to check that out next!

3 - The Wedding People - Alison Espach
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
This was all over my social media for a while
and I’m easily influenced that way. Heh.
But this was a good influence!
It made me laugh out loud in places.
I absolutely adored the characters,
but especially the relationship between Phoebe and Lila…
well…Phoebe and anyone really.
{And I hated Matt. Like. I really hated Matt.}
This one is definitely worth the read
and I saw there might be a movie coming for it as well!

NEXT UP - SUPER BODY - WILLIAM DAVIS
&
POEMS & PRAYERS - MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY

friday i'm in love...#3 of 2026 (the 🩷 hearty-heart-to-heart 🩷 issue)

the truth is
i might love valentine’s day
more
now that i am
alone
than when i was
with someone.

there is no
wondering if they will remember
causing me to
question
whether or not
i am worthy of being remembered,
or reminding me of a time
when
they always remembered.

there is no expectation,
no disappointment,
no pretending that everything
is ok just the way it is,
that it’s just another day,
a made up consumerism holiday
(when really,
i think we all know
that i love made up consumerism holidays…
i love celebrations and special days
and themes and colors
and a reason to use my fancy stickers
or dress all in pink
or put some food coloring in my ginger ale
and call it “special valentine’s bubbliness”)
(surely you know this about me by now.)

so the heart shaped point i am trying to make
is that, at first, i thought
this day might make me sad
but it doesn’t.
i look forward to it now….
i plan out it out as a day, a weekend, a month
of self-love for myself.

whatever i want.

movies by myself? sure!
a hike in the silent woods, just me and the birds
(and hopefully no coyotes)? check!
should i buy myself some fancy
*insert whatever is the current obsession here
(shampoo? body wash? plants? stickers? markers? candy?)
yes, yes and yes.

and here are some other things i am loving:

🩷 my valentine’s tree….it just makes me happy
🩷 a sleep over with one friend this week and supper date with 2 others another night! *also, shipyard was very good!
🍿 i love emily henry’s books so was really excited to watch
"the people we meet on vacation''
it was good…i debated adding it here as i don’t feel i LOVED it
but i still enjoyed it.
🩷 i found the sweetest surprise in my mailbox from a friend…
a handwritten letter!!! with little surprises!! including
a muppet sticker!!!! (& she also loves muppets so
i knowwwww how hard it is to give up stickers of
something you love…) and the letter was so
thoughtful it made me cry but also
realize how much i appreciate connecting with people…
you just never know what will resonate with someone else.

this is way longer than i meant it to be
but honestly,
i just had a lot of good things i really loved lately….
i couldn’t fit it all
into one post!!

so be prepared for more to come.
happy heart day…i hope cupid finds you
and gives you
whatever it is
that makes you smile.
(and if that’s pink ginger ale
in a fancy glass, that’s ok…
we listen and we don’t judge. heh)

*and also just to say that i am 
also painfully aware
of the incredible sadness 
happening in the world
right now…💔 
so hard to wrap your head 
(or heart) around.